These are the working time rules. They are NOT the drivers’ hours rules – they are a separate set of rules, and every HGV and PCV driver must follow both at the same time.
Their proper name is the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations 2005. You may know them as the Working Time Directive or the Road Transport Directive – those are the old EU names for the same rules. Whatever you call them, the limits below are what matter.
*This page was reviewed and updated in October 2026 and reflects the current gov.uk working time rules.
To get a full understanding of the working time rules take a look at the range of online courses and use discount code dhg25 to get 25% off your first order
What Is The Weekly Maximum?
You cannot work more than 60 hours in any single fixed week.
What Is The Weekly Average?
Across a reference period – which can ONLY be 17 or 26 weeks – your working time must average no more than 48 hours per week.
*I.e. Add up your working time for each week of the period, then divide the total by the number of weeks. That figure must not be more than 48.
How Do Breaks Work?
You cannot work more than 6 consecutive hours without a break. A break must be at least 15 minutes to count.
If you work between 6 and 9 hours you must take at least 30 minutes of break in total. If you work more than 9 hours you must take at least 45 minutes of break in total. The break can be taken in one go or in blocks of at least 15 minutes, as long as you never work more than 6 hours in a row.
| Work up to 6 Hours |
Break 15 Minutes |
Work up to 9 Hours |
Break a further 15 Minutes |
*Note, your required 45 minute break under the drivers’ hours rules can be used as the same break to satisfy the working time rules. You do not take both.
Worked Examples
Example 1. A driver drives for 2 hours then works in the warehouse for 4 hours. At 6 hours they take a 30 minute break, because they know another break will not be possible for the next 3 hours. They then work another 3 hours, reaching 9 hours, and take a 15 minute break before continuing. The second 15 minutes could instead have been added to the first break.
| Driving 2 Hours |
Other Work 4 Hours |
Break 30 Minutes |
Other Work 3 Hours |
Break 15 Minutes |
Example 2. A driver works in the yard for 2 hours then drives for 4 hours. At 6 hours they take a 30 minute break to satisfy the working time rules, then drive for another 2 hours and work in the yard for a further hour. This is correct and no rule is broken – but it is not the most efficient. As the driver still had driving to do, it would have been better to take the 45 minute break required by the drivers’ hours rules instead of the first 30 minute break.
Example 3. A driver drives 2 hours to a delivery, spends 30 minutes unloading, then drives back to base – only 5 hours of work in total. The drivers’ hours rules still require a 45 minute break before they can continue, and that 45 minute break also covers them to work past the 9 hour mark without a further break. This shows why you must keep an eye on both sets of rules and take your breaks to satisfy whichever one bites first.
Reference Periods
The reference period is what you use to work out your 48 hour average. It can be set at any length between 17 and 26 weeks, and there are two common ways to run it.
The basic fixed calendar. A set period of 17 to 26 weeks. All of your working time is added together and divided by the number of weeks to give the average, which must not exceed 48 hours. When the period ends it is filed and a fresh period begins.
The rolling reference period. Also 17 to 26 weeks, but it never comes to an end. Instead it always uses the most recent run of weeks. On a 17 week rolling period, as week 18 is completed it replaces week 1, so you are recalculating the average every week.
How Are Holidays And Sick Days Counted?
When you work out your average, a single day of holiday is counted as 8 hours of work. A full week of 5 consecutive days off is counted as 48 hours.
Holiday taken beyond your statutory entitlement – a minimum of 5.6 weeks a year, which is 28 days for someone working a 5 day week – is recorded as rest days and adds no hours to your working time.
Sick days are treated exactly the same as holidays: 8 hours for a single day, or 48 hours for 5 consecutive days.
Bank Holidays, Yard Work And Training
Bank holidays are free days and do not count towards your working time – unless you work at all during the bank holiday, in which case that is void.
Days spent entirely in the office or the yard count towards your working time as normal. You would record these with a logbook or timesheets.
Mandatory training also counts towards your working time. Training you choose to do in your own free time does not.
*Note, some drivers complete their Driver CPC training in their own time, and in that case it has not counted towards their working time.
What About Night Work?
If any part of your duty is night work there is a separate limit of 10 hours of working time in a 24 hour period. This is a working time rule, and it is explained in full – with the night-time hours for HGV and PCV drivers and the workforce-agreement opt-out – on our double manning, ferries & night work page.
Are There Any Exemptions?
There is a derogation for drivers who are only occasionally behind the wheel. You do not have to monitor your working time if, in your reference period, you work within scope of the drivers’ hours rules on:
- 10 days or fewer, where the reference period is shorter than 26 weeks; or
- 15 days or fewer, where the reference period is 26 weeks or longer.
*Note, this only removes the duty to monitor your average. It does NOT exempt you from the daily limits – you must still take your breaks where required.
The full detail of the working time rules is set out in the gov.uk working time rules guidance.
Download the full Drivers’ Hours Handbook for free here. It explains both the drivers’ hours rules and the working time rules, with real worked examples.
Get 25% off an online course covering the working time rules when you use
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If at any point you have questions about the working time rules, please feel free to contact the office by calling 0191 491 5032.